Khamzat Chimaev isn’t planning a full-time move to another sport, but he likes the idea of crossing over to boxing at least for one big, marquee fight against another UFC superstar.
As he prepares for his first title defense as middleweight champion at UFC 328, Chimaev pitched his idea to face Conor McGregor in a Zuffa Boxing match. To be clear, Chimaev doesn’t hold some grudge against McGregor, so there’s nothing personal about the fight, but he knows it would be a lot of fun and probably make both of them a whole lot of money.
“I’m not going to move over to boxing,” Chimaev said during a media scrum ahead of UFC 328. “I will be forever a UFC fighter. Maybe if Zuffa [Boxing] gives the chance, box with Conor, or if Conor wants to accept that. It would be nice. Why not?”
Obviously, McGregor remains the biggest draw in the sport so his inclusion in that fight only serves to benefit Chimaev, but he also considers the former two-division UFC champion one of the best boxers currently competing in MMA.
Of course, McGregor famously crossed over to boxing back in 2017 for a showdown against Floyd Mayweather that became one of the most successful pay-per-view cards in history.
McGregor suffered a 10th-round TKO loss in that fight, but he stuck around longer than most expected, especially given Mayweather’s credentials and pedigree as one of the top boxers for the past half-century.
“Conor is a good boxer, one of the best boxers in the UFC,” Chimaev said. “It would be nice to try and go fight that guy. Good money, too. He talks better than Sean Strickland. It would be fun.”
In a strange twist, Chimaev actually credits McGregor for his entry into MMA after he saw “The Notorious” climb to the top of the UFC mountain with his stunning knockout over Jose Aldo back in 2015.
The 13-second knockout crowned McGregor as featherweight champion, but Chimaev says it was the paycheck he earned for that fight that made quite the impression on him.
In some ways, it changed his life forever.
“When I saw that fight, I heard about how much he made,” Chimaev said. “That’s why I got motivated to start MMA. It’s cool to see. It would be cool [to box him]. Why should it be personal?”
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